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Monthly Archives: May 2018

For the past few months, I’ve been consulting with A Brilliant U, a lifestyle and healthful living service, guiding them thru the maze that is social media, and assisting with online marketing opportunities for their affiliated Rodan+Fields luxury skincare line (OMG, their skincare products are amazing – yes, my skin is now like a baby’s bum!). Founder John Joseph Mastandrea (below) offers guidance, services and products for a healthy holistic lifestyle: I believe in giving forward, creating opportunities for philanthropy that promote internal & external healthy life styles.A Brilliant U’s Facebook page offers frequent “Thought for the Day” motivational posts as well as news of Rodan+Fields products suitable for all skin types, seasonal use and their new men’s line called “Beyond the Shave”. (Pssst: Father’s Day is coming up) I recently sat down and asked John Joseph a few questions about the business opportunities presented by Rodan+Fields as well as being agents of change:

You have a successful ministry career – what inspired you to create A Brilliant U? I believe in giving back to the universe and helping others to discover A Brilliant U – your own magnificent self. I hope to help people look at the core values of life and turn them inside out to ignite the brilliance within. How did you find Rodan+Fields? A family friend, Allen Norman, told me about the Rodan+Fields story which is so much more than skincare, it’s about a lifestyle….a way of living your life in the most positive way. How did you learn about the potential for generating a substantial side income thru marketing of R+F? Weattended R+F seminars and listened to the powerful potential for creating our own “side hustles” or home businesses.R+F products are considered the finest luxury skincare on the market – how difficult is it to attract customers away from designer or drugstore brands and introduce them to the various regimens available only thru personal presentations and online sales? Attracting customers takes place not in the hard-sell but rather via the live demonstration and sampling of the products. We are also uploading short informational videos to YouTube, thanks to our colleague Joanne who is the perfect video hostess with the mostest!

There is an exciting revenue generating aspect to R+F – can you explain briefly how this works?Revenue generation takes place when you sign up as a consultant – here’s the link: https://www.rodanandfields.com/ca/businessSys/selectSponsor/SelectSponsorPage Purchase a product base, then share the good news with your friends, family and wider circle of acquaintances. Invite them to purchase or become a consultant themselves and start their own side hustle. Voila! Revenue generation begins for you.Apart from offering tools to enhance one’s outside, you also offer motivational and lifestyle advice plus spiritual support to improve one’s inside – how does this all impact your clients and team members? We ignite the outside to connect with the inner self; when we love ourselves and have integrity we are truly authentic. When self is directed towards giving back, the self transforms and becomes and force for healing.

Your mandate is “changing you, changing lives” – how does A Brilliant U engage with clients in order to change lives? We change lives by first changing ourselves. For A Brilliant U, we personally change lives by contributing our time and talents to philanthropic causes such as Fife House, Camp Winston, Kohai, and the Rotary Club. We encourage others to find their catalyst of connection with world mending.

Finally, how has working with R+F and focusing on helping others changed your lives? Working with Rodan+Fields has opened up opportunities for meeting other like-minded people….it is contagious: open doors, open lives and open selves.If you would like to learn more about the Rodan+Fields products and revenue-generating opportunities, as well as guidance for living a positive and healthy life, follow them on Facebook.com/abrilliantu or Twitter: @abrilliantu or via their website: www.abrilliantu.com

Toronto’s URBAN GALLERY has become known for showcasing exciting and unique multi-media artworks in their monthly exhibitions, and for May, they present 4 outstanding photographers as part of this year’s Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. In their “Women at Work” show, Urban features images of women going about their work-a-day lives, be it as horse grooms, boxers, ballerinas, mothers, fashionistas….and the photos are simply gorgeous.Dorothy Chiotti (below) is a horse-lover as well as photographer and her images of barn life illustrate the exhausting round-the-clock life of caring for our 4-legged friends. Apart from simply exhibiting her work here, Dorothy is donating 10% from sales of her work to Whispering Hearts Horse Rescue of Hagarsville so please choose your fave photo and know that your purchase will help support the great work Whispering Hearts does for abused and abandoned equines. Bravo, Dorothy!

And here are some of Dorothy’s photos…I next spoke with Wally Jay Parker – this is her very first time exhibiting her work publicly and she was so excited!

…and big CONGRATULATIONS as one of Wally Jay’s photos was the first to be sold at yesterday’s opening reception!! Digital & analogue photographer and collage artist Erin McGean joined me next for a quick chat…

…and two of her works were next to sell at the opening party. Congrats, Erin. Her family was there, too, and showed off their favourite picture of mum’s (bottom)The only male photographer in the show, Lyndon Wiebe, is a well traveled photographer as well as celebrity chef. Lyndon and 2 of his chef pals traveled the world for the popular “Chefs Run Wild” tv show. Lyndon is also the executive chef for Urban Source Catering (the gallery’s yummy caterer for all their opening receptions). Lyndon is bashful when it comes to video interviews but I managed to grab a few quick photos of him (below), including one of him with the subject of his charming ballerina photos.There were lots of family and friends who came out to show support for the artists and the gallery was humming with positive comments and kudos from all……even Erin and Dorothy exchanged artistic visions (below)KJ Mullins, publisher of NEWZ4U.ca (below left) checked in at the door with gallery hostess Kelly…yes, you’re on the guest list!“Women at Work” runs throughout May as part of the city-wide CONTACT fest so do come down and support your local photographic artists. Check the gallery’s website for hours & directions: www.urbangallery.ca

Don’t know ’bout you but I looove good authentic Indian food and I’ve finally found a great little restaurant that serves it up in a beautifully designed environment far from the trinkety, bedazzled elephant decor dining room we’ve come to expect from local Indo-Canadian food spots. Welcome to LEELA INDIAN FOOD BAR located at 3108 Dundas St West (just past Quebec Ave) a calm oasis in the busy Junction strip of cool boutique resto-lounges and boites, serving the most authentic “dhaba” or street food this side of the Bay of Bengal!The charming and well-informed staff are happy to recommend menu selections and stand behind their dishes, each of which is made fresh for each diner. On my first visit, I thoroughly enjoyed the recommended roasted cauliflower chaat tossed with chutney, yoghurt and fresh cilantro (pictured below). Mmmmmmm, deelish!…which was followed by the butter chicken. OMG, so yummy, and the rice was light and fluffy, not gluey or over-cooked like many other places serve.I recently spoke with owner, Hormazd Daver, and asked him to share his thoughts on Indian food and his delightful restaurant:

What inspired you to open Leela Indian Food Bar? I always wanted to open my own restaurant; it’s been a passion for while to have somewhere that I can put my own ideas and efforts into practice and cater authentic Indian cuisine to hungry Toronto foodies.

Did you have previous experience in the food/hospitality industry and if so, where? My previous experience was working as a flight crew member for Cathay Pacific airlines which gave me the opportunity to interact with people of different nationalities and share their experiences about the food and international cuisines available in Toronto.

You have family members working with you – who are they and what duties do they undertake to help make the restaurant such a success? I have my sister working with me, along with my brother-in-law, which make us a complete family team. This helps a lot as my sister works on weekends both in a service and administrative capacity. My brother-in-law is responsible for managing the restaurant on a daily basis from ordering supplies to managing the staff and all other duties required to successfully operate the restaurant.

What are your most popular dishes? According to reviews posted by our customers, the Lasooni Cauliflower (stir-fried cauliflower with our chef’s special spices & sesame seeds) is very popular along with my favourite Shrimp Malai Curry which is tasty and very light. Also popular is our Butter Chicken which is not overly “sweet”, unlike what you might find in many other Toronto Indian restaurants. As far as vegetarian dishes, we find the most popular is the Sweet & Sour Eggplant with curry leaf and mustard seeds – by the way, we have many vegetarian options for diners to choose.

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One thing that really impressed me while sitting and inhaling my yummy meal was the humble decor and accessories – I love the blue carved ceramic serving platters on each table as well as the copper water jugs full of chilled fresh H2O – apparently the copper infuses valuable minerals into the drinking water so it’s extra good for us to imbibe.The open kitchen (below) makes for a friendly casual atmosphere and you can watch your meals being prepared fresh by the skilled cooks.Leela Indian Food Bar also has a busy home delivery service and you can order via their website:www.leelaindianfoodbar.ca If you’d like to reserve a table (suggested for groups of 6 or more), you can also do that via the website (upper r.h. corner)

A few more personal recommendations include the incredibly over-stuffed veggie samosas……the oh-so-delicious kale & spinach pakoras(below) – I’ve never tasted pakoras like these and not an once of grease to be found!And you just gotta end your meal with their fresh, sweet Gulab Jamun dessert (spongy honey balls).So take it from me, a hard-boiled, curry-lovin’, naan gulping Indian food fanatic – Leela Indian Food Bar is THE place to take your friends, families or sweetie…and it’s very affordable, too!